A Story Before Bed
by MintSong
Summary: They woke up into a world that seemed familiar but all so new . . . Gibson and Antauri are exploring their world with their newly awakened baby sister, Nova. There are many things to uncover, and even more mysteries to unravel, all while avoiding their eldest brother's watchful glare - and the Alchemist's violent mood swings. R
1. A Simple Gift

Found this in the back of my drive. I think it's about time it saw light.

Full Summary:

They woke up into a world that seemed familiar but all so new . . . Gibson and Antauri are exploring their world with their newly awaken baby sister, Nova. There are many things to discover in their father's lab and, secretly, sneaking out of the Haven to explore the forest and look for the rumored faraway places beyond even that, a world much larger waiting for them, somewhere 'above the surface.' But they must be careful. Their eldest brother, Mandarin, is very strict and no nonsense. Working directly under their father as the Alchemist's right hand, if he discovers their antics he would surely report to him and with their father's recent . . . mood swings getting more severe, it would most surely not be a good thing. They admit, though, Mandarin and their father have a very good reason to limit the younger monkeys' adventures – hidden in ever growing shadows are strange and frightening things, things that clawed their way back to lurk among the living, eluding the vigilant eyes of the spirited Captain Shuggazoom and the trickster, things that want them writhing but alive for unknown purposes.

There are mysteries to uncover, fueling their need for action despite their fears. Faded memories of "the before"- memories of a softer father, of strange but familiar faces no longer among them and a gateway and a terrible thing reaching from the depths of somewhere far beyond for them. Why does Antauri see things that aren't there? And why does their father get sicker with each passing month?

Note: The Captain stayed longer in the timeline.

Other note: These chapters are world building. A warning, it is rated T for a reason.

Story time:

CH1 - A Simple Gift

"Hey!"

No response came.

"Hey!" A small helm popped out from under the leafy growth, the small figure standing up, leaves and debris falling off its form. Its attention turned upwards to the overgrown canopy above him, the tree in his sights no different from the countless others except for one thing. "Come on! How long does it takes to get a mango!" The leaves shifted slightly.

"Hmph. If Mandarin ask why we were late, it's your fault." A dark form dropped down from the canopy with alarming speed, landing in front of Gibson causing a cloud of loose debris to billow up, coating both of their forms. "Arrg!"

Antauri straightened, smirking at the other's pulled face.

"That is not what I meant!"

"In a way it is."

Gibson shifted on his hip, crossing his arms. "Hmph."

* * *

[author note: Alchemist uses science/spells to communicate efficiently with the monkeys. Everything is typically science/magic with him.]

The Alchemist looked away from the monitors lining the wall to the tubes just as the yellow form shifted. He smiled brightly. Little Nova should be ready to come out of the gestation tube soon, her body seeming to have taken to the additional cybernetics graphed to her, finishing her form. "Now," he turned to the sealed door behind him, "to keep her brothers from being too rough." He paused. "Hmm, I am going to have to explain that eventually." He sighed deeply. She proposed a future consequence he had not intended but he could not do anything about it now. Besides, now that he must think it through, it could only help the team to have a differing view point. It will be interesting to see how she will develop with only males around. Hopefully it would not be detrimental to her.

He really couldn't be prouder of them.

"Father?"

The Alchemist swirled around, his inky cloak twisting tightly around the bottom of his form. "Mandarin, you know you and your brothers are not allowed to be in here without my explicit permission and my continuous presence in the room."

"But . . ." His sentence was sharply severed as the Alchemist's stare towards the monkey momentarily darkened.

"Yes?"

"How much longer do we have to wait?" He watched the Alchemist's gaze shift to the door.

"It won't be long. I could potentially give the final command now. Where are Gibson and Antauri?"

"They are getting a present."

"Oh?" His features brightened, a genuine smile stretched his face. "What are they giving her?" He took a few steps towards the lower line of computers.

"Gibson was going on about how it was illogical to give a keepsake."

"Which is true. She'll essentially only be a very smart toddler once she leaves the tube. It is likely she would not know its intended value at this stage in her development."

"I know that. I sugge-"

_Knock knock_.

The door creaked open and two heads stacked on top of each other timidly peered through the gap.

"Come in you two."

Gibson trotted up to the Alchemist. He looked up at his tall father figure. The thought flashed across his mind if they would get that tall. "Has anything happened," Gibson asked.

"No," a weathered hand rubbed the bridge of his nose, "it looks like I am going to have to manually activate her full systems. She's not activating on her own."

"It is not going to be like what happened with Antauri, is it?" Mandarin asked.

"No, that glitch was fixed." The Alchemist turned and walked over to the computers.

Antauri's tail twitched. His head veered over to the side to watch the bubbles drift up the glass side of a condenser in the far corner, hiding his face and his worried features.

"Are you going to wake her up?" Antauri asked, his gaze never fully reaching the others.

"Not quite yet. There are some more checks to run first." He thought a moment. "Mandarin, take your brothers and go practice some maneuvers and come back only when I call you."

A chorus of "yes, father" answered. As the others started to walk towards the door, Gibson's form drooping from the thought of having to leave and not get to see the process, Antauri skipped to a nearby table and deposited a plump mango on the cold, clean steel. He briefly glanced at the Alchemist, pausing in his moments, a strange look on the monkey's face, and quickly darted after the others.

The Alchemist watched him as he dashed away. He sullenly stalked to the door and lightly pressed it into its frame. The lock immediately switched on. (He could have sworn he had locked it before.)


	2. A Father's Hand to Hold

The coding punched in, he pressed enter. There was a clanking sound followed by a sudden hiss as the liquid drained from the fourth tube. The Alchemist walked over to the tube and peered through the steamed glass at the small form curled into itself that was now settled on the bottom of the tube. An arm curled around her head, obscuring her face. The other wrapping around her shoulders. His hand felt for the command panel, his eyes never leaving the shivering form. (Perhaps he should have increase the room temperature more than he had.) The tube slid up over the two and disappeared into its setting, some of the remaining liquid spilling over the sides and down the base of the tube. "Shh, little one." He placed a blanket over her body, the child making a small squeak as the blanket enclosed around her, and, carefully avoiding the wires running from her head and the base of her neck, wrapped it around her and lifted her up to be cradled on his chest. She settled down as he held her there, her bubblegum eyes blinking wildly.

"Hello, Nova." She didn't respond. "No-o-o-va-a." He held out the syllables. "Nova?" The last one got her attention. _There we go. Now to begin the tests_. He gently pressed his finger against her chest, stating her name again as she followed his finger. "Do you remember me?" She tilted her head to try to look at the finger better. _You sure remember your name from your original paleomammalian complex_. "Nova?" This time she seemed to respond, looking up at the man. _Good, I was worried something was damaged when the cybernetic neocortex was graphed on_. "Nova." He pointed to her again. When she looked back up to him he said it again, deliberately mouthing the word. He smiled warmly as she seemed to try and copy his mouth's movements. No sound came out but it was a good start. Once the right coding was stimulated her more advance mental facilities would start developing quickly. (Language was very important to learn. She needed to be able to efficiently express information to the others.)

He carried her over to the nearby table, conscious of the wires still attached to her. He positioned her on her front and started to dry her off. She protested but was still too wobbly to effectively throw the blanket off or swat away the powerful hands. When he was finished he lifted up the blanket and pushed it back from her head and down her form, revealing a rather angry monkey with fluffed fur laying on her stomach. He turned to the computers to enter the disengage command.

[note: descriptions are given because there is no other way in this format to describe things when they currently are without names]

A hand clenched tightly to the soft cushion on the table. Another came to join it and together they tried to lift her up, succeeding only in toppling her over onto her side after gaining a few inches of height. Still in the position she had fallen into, wide eyed, she got her first good look at her surroundings. Strange shadows danced above her, casted by soft glows of changing color. There were strange sounds she didn't quite understand, low, loud humming and swirls. She let her head dropped the rest of the way to one side, tilting her head towards the figure to the side. She had seen this figure before. She knew the name . . .

Name . . .

A before . . . ?

She tried to tilt her head to the other side and felt a bulge under her head, preventing her from shifting her head completely to the other side. On instinct a hand flopped up, grasping wildly at the thing under her head. Her fingers loosely traced it, her digits not obeying properly at first; she focused hard to get them to flex to the degree she wanted them to flex. It took what seemed like ages to find the right pathway. When she traced the thing to the back of her head she gave a squeak. That didn't seem right.

"Nova." The Alchemist walked over to her. She seemed much more alert than before. He noticed her gripping onto the cables. "Shh, little one. Shhh~." He lifted her up, this time helping her to sit up. She wobbled for a while but eventually started supporting herself with her arms. He dropped down to her level. Her face expressed her confusion, still wide eyed and her mouth slightly agape. "It's alright. Here," he grasped her under her arms and lifted her up. Holding her with one for a moment, reached for the back of a nearby chair. He sat down and settled her onto his lap with her stomach resting against him. "You should not mess with those cables." He wheeled the chair to the line of computers. "Give me a few more minutes to run final diagnostic and we will remove them, alright?" She didn't say anything, but turned her head up towards the man's face and watched intently. And wondered.

* * *

"Understood, Father." Mandarin's receiver collapsed. "Antauri! Gibson! Fall in!" A form dropped from the trees as another lazily stumbled up from a bed of leaves.

"Is it time for bed already?" Antauri tried to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"You were there the whole time!"

Mandarin could only smirk at Gibson's comment. Antauri was the reigning champion when it came to capturing a target and keeping the others from reclaiming it within a time limit. The amazing part was that he didn't even put much effort into it. "Father has called us to the forbidden lab." He earned their attention.

Gibson's demeanor calmed down, " you mean?"

"Likely."

"Oh!" The two of them darted off with Mandarin following soon after.

* * *

Even though the heavy door he could hear their whispering (which means it probably wasn't whispering). Sighing, he set down the datapad in his hand on the desk. "Come in." The door creaked open.

Several sets of curious eyes peered through the gap.

"Come, come - and be polite. Remember what I told you and _be gentle_." A bony hand grasped at his cloak and gingerly pulled it to one side, pulling it taut. A small hand, clutching to the folds of the fabric, was dragged forward along with the cloth followed by a wide eyed stare. Only a small portion of her face could be seen, the rest still hidden by his form. "Nova. Can you say 'hello?'" He turned back to the others. "She is still a little wobbly. She is still learning to manually control the graphs."

"We understand, Father," Mandarin spoke up. He held a palm up to her. "Come, baby sister. We will show you around."

She stumbled forward, her hands having yet to detach from the Alchemist's cloak. Steadying herself, a couple tentative steps forward she left her father's form. Her head low but her eyes never leaving the forms in front of her. There was something about the one directly in front of her that faintly burned in the back of her mind.

Scared?

Why?

* * *

Now out in the hall, down a ways from the door, the Alchemist watched them from the lingering gap between the door and its frame. His eldest children were debating where to take her first. (They must have forgotten the fruit.) His gaze shifted to Nova. A hand on Antauri's shoulder, she stood there passively listening to the words being tossed around with great interest, still teetering slightly. She would learn the more advance language much quicker by hearing it in her native tongue. His translator could only do so much. He pulled himself away, crossing the room to the computers like he has again and again and will do so until his plans were complete. His eyes glanced up at the fifth tube.


	3. Fumbling, Jumbling

She gazed down to the floor, she watched as she put each foot in front of the other as the others dragged her along. It felt kind of weird - different. How was it different?

They dragged her pass door after closed door; the blue one just kept on talking. The black one would smile softly at her whenever he noticed her staring, seemingly acknowledging her confused state, his hand on her shoulder as they walked to keep her straight. Lots of strange words. Her gaze shifted to the back of the head of the orange one. He was slightly in front of them, his walk slightly more brisk. He paused whenever they stalled or she stumbled but would quickly take his pace again. Where were they taking her?

* * *

"And this is the garden. Our personal conservatory. The Greenhouse, where Father has his botany experiments and herbs is down that path. The conservatory is also where we get a lot of the food we eat. The swamp below the Haven has too many dangers to safely travel at our current abilities, especially for the abilities of a newborn." Gibson rubbed his chin, his eyes closed thoughtfully. His eyes suddenly shot open. "Oh . . . mango."

"You can go explore." Antauri's soft spoken comment caught her attention. She stared at him. A concerned expression formed on his face, his gaze shifting to the ground for a moment. He straightened and motioned to the line of trees with a smooth, sweeping motion. Her gaze followed the motion but her attention immediately returned to him.

He sighed - and dropped down to balance on the balls of his feet. He motioned for her to do the same. She plopped down, sitting fully instead of balancing and watched as he pointed to the ground.

"You should already have a lot of information stored in your database. You just need to know how to access it naturally." She glanced over to the blue one as he trotted over. "Father said when Gibson was activated he just needed stimulus for the right pathways to form." She scooted closer to both of them, the blue one now leaning over the black one. "This," he paused, passing his hands over the grass. He waited for her to do it. She mimicked it, smiling as the stiff yet flexible tips tickled her hand. She plucked a bit of off. The flexible blade of green seemed familiar. "Grass." Her attention darted to him. "Grass," he repeated. "Common, repeat it. Grass." A hand flew to his mouth to quickly arch away again. "Say it."

"Say." She smiled.

"Well, that is sort of what you wanted." Gibson laughed dryly.

"Yes, but it is a start." The three looked up at Mandarin hovering over them. He stood tall, arms crossed but his face faltered and showed his emotions. "This is going to be a long day."

* * *

Several Days later . . .

She looked up. Disoriented, she numbly tried to focus her mind. What was happening again? The sleep thoroughly rubbed from her eyes, her hands flopped down to either side of her helm. She stared blankly at the objects above her. An uncovered light, nothing more than a bare bulb hanging down from the ceiling above, just off to the side. A plain ceiling made of long, dull metal planks. The light held her unfocused gaze for a few moments before she realized it was actually quite stupid to do that.

Clenching her eyes shut, she flung herself forward, curling her torso and straightening into a sitting position. She feverishly rubbed her eyes again, this time to remove the colored spots that had been burned into her vision. As her vision cleared she could see the shelves of books and things that were still heavily covered in still shadow despite the bare light.

Father's . . . (word?) . . . Study.

Antauri had mentioned it. She paused. Each one of their faces popped up in her head. A soft smile crept up one side of her face There was always some form of . . . feeling associated with everyone and everything here . . . but it was still so wondrous. All these strange things and ideas. It was like her brain was tingling with energy and new thoughts. A hand came to her chin, rubbing it as Gibson regularly did. Here. Here? Her gaze swept across the silent room. When she focused she could faintly hear a sort of buzzing through the wall. She leaned forward and crawled over to one of the walls that flanked the bed at three sides. Braced against the wall, hands positioned on either side of her, she pressed a receptor against the wall. She closed her eyes, listening. If she paid close attention she could feel the structure under her rapidly vibrate. She dropped down onto her legs. What was behind the wall? It was likely another part of the lab. Maybe a part of the ventilation system running through the walls?

"Nova?"

She twisted around. Antauri was at the door, though still technically in the hall. His form was mostly hidden by door. "Yeah," she asked, slightly startled.

"You slept through dinner. Mandarin sent me to check on you. You weren't in your recharge pod so I check in the old oak tree and the Greenhouse and . . . ah."

Nova scooted over to the edge and slipped down the padded comforter to the tile floor. It was cool to the touch under her feet and sent a small shiver tracing up her spine. "Sorry. Where Father?" [author note: her speech is broken. She's still learning to properly pronounce.]

"He isn't home yet. We received a communication a couple of hours ago. His day trip to gather resources is going to take longer than expected. Father is not going to be home for a couple of days." His voiced dropped a little, "he also mentioned how it pained him to be away at your current stage." A large, seemingly genuine smile stretched across his face. "It seems we are going to have the labs to ourselves for a while."

It was a smile Nova has come to realize was something Antauri did to calm the person he directed it towards. It was, usually, not an actual smile. Something seemed to falter in her. Ant seemed older than the age he must be. Memories surfaced of Father, flashes of his aged, smiling face. She wondered if those smiles wherever the same thing.

"You must be hungry by now." He jerked her from her thoughts.

"Ah," she actually had to pause to see if she felt hungry. She wasn't starving but when figures came up in her mind on her intake and batteries levels she was a bit startled. It felt . . . different. "Yeah, hungry." She shifted, "have yu ever . . . asked question and then answer come to you in . . . ah . . . numbers?"

"It's from a biomechanical component. It monitors our life signs and controls our repair systems. Father could explain it better than me. You will be able to control it eventually." He held his hand out sideways. "Come on. We are going to have a surprise for you."


	4. Presents

"Like this?"

"Whisk it a little slower. Get it off the sides." Mandarin pointed to the drying clumps on the rim.

They both turned as they heard the door slide open. They saw Nova standing there beaming with Antauri behind her.

"What that smell," Nova asked.

"You're awake!"

Mandarin sighed. "Where was she?"

"She fell asleep in the Study," Antauri said simply as he trotted up to them. He squeezed between them to get a good look inside the bowl. "What did you decide?"

"Chocolate!" The happy word jumped from Gibson.

"Remember." Mandarin shot Antauri a glare. "You are not to eat more than two. I don't need you high on sugar."

"High on sugar," Nova repeated as a question.

"It is a phrase that the Captain uses to describe Antauri when he's overstimulated," Gibson answered.

Nova's face blanked, she didn't know anyone by the name Captain. Right? "Who Captain?"

"He's a friend of Father's," Antauri called out from the closet. He exited the door with a bag of some sort of powder. "He is what he calls an uncle. He says it is what a child calls the brother of their father." The large bag slipped slightly, causing Antauri to have to toss the bag up and get a better grip.

"What does a unc- . . . an uncle do?"

Gibson started to stir again. "From what the Captain has done it seems to be helping raise children."

Nova walked over to look inside the bowl herself. "What are you doing?"

"Cooking," he answered.

"Trying to cook," Mandarin corrected.

"Cook-king?"

"Well, you need to eat," Gibson sat down the spoon, setting it down on the counter, batter pooling around the spoon's well. He poured the rest of the batter in the bowl onto the floured counter.

"How do you know how to cook?"

Gibson's tail pointed to a book propped up to the side away from her. "That book."

Nova walked up to the open pages. It showed one big picture on the top part of one of the pages. The rest were words, most were not arranged in a normal sentence pattern. She could read a good number of the words but some she had never seen before or were stored in the preprogrammed portions of her database. But she could sound them out. "What a coo-key?"

"What I'm making," the look of concentration on Gibson's face morphed to a smile but his gaze didn't leave the whisked batter.

"But what a coo-key?"

"Just wait." Antauri started. He was now sitting on a counter that was not being used. "I'm sure you will like them."

"They are not the best thing for a newborn to be eating for what should be a regular meal," Mandarin's scowl got bigger.

"And yet for some reason we are still making them," a mischievous smirk formed on Antauri's face. It grew bigger as Mandarin gave him a hard glare. Antauri pulled his gaze from Mandarin's grasped. "Don't worry. They'll be dessert. We'll find something else in the pantry."

No one seemed noticed Mandarin's receiver blink. "Just remember to clean everything up when you're done." He turned to leave.

"Hey, were you not babbling on that you needed to supervise to make sure I do not blow everything up," Gibson called after Mandarin's form receding down the dim hallway.

"Antauri. Keep them in line." Still walking away, his head turned to them, "and make sure he does not _experiment _with anything remotely combustible." The door closed automatically.

Antauri met their gazes, still sitting on the counter. "So, are you going to have chocolate chips with these chocolate cookies? Could you also please make them really big because Mandarin said only two cookies for me? If you do that, he can't argue about it because of a technicality." He smiled brightly.

* * *

The monitor gave a happy spiel as the application opened. Finally, Gibson thought, taking the moment as it started to stretch. His arms flopped down onto the armrests that were too high for him. As the icon popped up on the screen he gripped the desk with both hands, waiting impatiently, slightly swiveling in his father's oversized chair as it loaded too slowly for him. It had taken him what seemed like forever to understand the computer language. Now that he finally understood it he could get into the applications he wanted (pass the Alchemist's restrictions).

Now he could explore the systems.

The screen flashed dark then outlines of green blinked onto the screen. Lines and lines of sets of numbers slowly filed down half the screen, each time it met the bottom the column would jump back to the top. The other half had several tilted circles with all of their centers in the same spot, a large but smaller, solid circle. Each ring and spot had a label. He clicked on Shuggazoom - that was where they lived, right? A small smile formed, he has never been to where the Captain lived. The stories he had told them of his adventures fighting crime, of tall, colorful skyscrapers. People everywhere. The description of this application sounded like it could give him an idea of outside the Haven, outside the seemingly perpetual forests and swamps.

More windows popped up. They displayed a detailed calendar and calculations of expected planetary alignments. Planetary . . . alignments. He mentally jotted it down to look up more about them in a few seconds. He wanted to gather some more information on yearly weather patterns first before he expanded his search. As he read more he realized something, there were apparently astronomical objects high above them. He had never seen this Sun nor this Ranger 7. He checked his own database. He did have preprogrammed knowledge of these objects' existence but this information was never accessed. He found that very odd. They must have covered it in their lessons. The idea of such large forms, according to the physical data, shifting above you excited him. But neither had ever swayed across the sky. Well, they could be. There were always a thick mass of clouds from horizon to horizon.

He opened the global weather patterns and skimmed through it. No places he could find had cloud cover _all_ the time. There were places where it happened really often, some had it for long, extended times but there was always a break sometime. What seemed logical was the poles, both had extended periods of storms but their climate did not match what he had observed the few times he had left the Haven. He clicked on another tab and another loading icon popped up. He huffed. It was so weird, these systems. Why did they work this way? They could possibly be more efficient if they were rerouted through . . .

_Yawwn_.

Gibson swerved the chair around, quickly remembering that he was forbidden to play around with the computer systems. It was dark in the room, darkened forms colored by nothing but the screens' soft blue-green, electric light. His eyes had to adjust to see the couch and the curled form sleeping on it. It was Nova, the gold color of her fur colored strangely in the dim light, the same light flashing violently off her metal components. Remembering something, he swiveled around fully to scan the room, trying to peer through the steeping dark until his night vision activated. Antauri had been asleep on the couch as well, the last he checked. Where had he gone off to? Matter of fact, where was Mandarin as well? It has been hours.

A small "bonk" from the computer grabbed his attention. He grabbed an armrest and jerked it towards the screen. It was a message through the public server (the only one he was allowed to use). Hopefully Father wasn't coming home earlier. The mess hall was - well - a mess. He opened it and read a few lines. He bit his lip, standing in the chair, leaning over the armrest, the text reflecting in his enlarged eyes. "Oh, no." Dread filled him. He spun the chair, leaping from it in midspin, sending the chair into the desk. "Antauri? Mandarin!" He flung the door open and briefly looked down both lengths of the attached hall. "The Captain's coming! Hide the cookies!"

Note: These chapters are world building. A warning, it is rated T for a reason.

R&Review


	5. During the Quiet, Steeping Night

"Oh crap, oh crap!" The quiet but urgent whisper escaped Gibson. The words that the Captain has accidently slip before spew from him. He fervently looked around for the others. He had run down both halls twice and looked through each of the surrounding rooms several times. The Alchemist was not going to be happy they had eaten so many sweets. It was not a good thing when the Alchemist was angry. He froze and quickly made his decision. He ran back towards the mess hall.

Going towards the mess hall he passed the main computer room again. Nova was standing there, her posture heavy with sleep. She rubbed her eyes, giving a small yawn as Gibson skidded to a stop in front of her. "What the mater?"

"Uh, come on." He snatched her hand. "You need to help me with something. And you must keep it a secret," a finger went to his lips. She smiled and did the same.

* * *

He slipped into the room, running along the low, even darker shadows clinging along the walls. He stopped at the door, observing the shimmering etchings swimming over the heavy brass lock and knob glowing softly in the steeping dark.

A finger ran down the middle of the sea of symbols. Soft blue flames erupted down the traced line and quickly dimmed to vibrant embers. The symbols fled from it, concentrating on either side. The lock unprotected, he inserted several wires.

* * *

Stepping down from the last step of the flight of stairs, he entered into the main lab. The Captain scanned the darken room but only humming machinery and billions of small blinking lights greeted him. It seemed quiet enough. Maybe they were all asleep?

"Nah, the older ones would never miss this opportunity," he smirked knowingly. He sniffed the air. The lab was steeping in a scent he couldn't remember it ever having. It was sweet. Hopefully they hadn't split any esters. They have a weird sweet smell. Gibson had better not got into any of the organic solvents.

* * *

"Anyone coming?"

Nova did a double take down both lengths of the corridor. "No."

"Good," the word barely formed as Gibson concentrated wiping up the loose flour on the counter. The cleaner bots had already taken care of any that had fallen on the floor.

"Gibson!"

"Monkey doodle," he whispered. He dropped to the floor and shoved several already clean pans into the cabinet in a last minute effort.

"What are you doing?"

Gibson froze, and timidly turned to a rather angry face. "Mandarin? I . . ." Gibson's features fell, he pushed himself up and flew at the orange monkey. "Where were you? The Captain is coming! Likely within hours if his attention does not get sidetracked." Mandarin's face didn't betray any surprise. "Help me clean up!" Gibson continued to rant at the monkey until Mandarin's deepening glare silenced him.

Mandarin scanned the room. "Where is Antauri?"

"I do not know. We do not have time to find him."

* * *

He smirked grew. He wouldn't show himself yet. They were going to be the ones to clean up whatever mess they made anyways. But a sudden thought deflated the Captain's good mood. Where was Antauri? The second oldest was very protective of his siblings. If he knew they were potentially in trouble he would be there . . . but wasn't. The Captain stole a look down the darkened hall to the only spot of good light in the pathway. All the other lights were dimmed automatically because everyone, except maybe the Alchemist, should be asleep. He watched as the youngest peeped her head out of the lit doorway. She glanced side to side almost as if she was scared, afraid of something about to pop out of the shadows. Her fur shone in the sulfur colored light just as he remembered it. He smiled briefly before turning. He needed to find where Antauri had gone off to - then introductions.

* * *

"Three cups. Cabinet seven on the right?"

"Check," Gibson called back.

"Cabinet four: mixing bowl, the blue one, two medium sauce pans?"

There was a small cacophony of clashing tin sounds. "Check and check," Nova called off even though the two pans and multiple others now lay by her feet.

Gibson let him head fall into the cabinet in front of him. "Nova."

"Let her be. She's still in the second stage," Mandarin whispered.

Gibson let out an aspirated sigh.

"You seem to have everything cleaned up now." Everyone froze. "Except for the obvious, of course."

Nova dashed behind Mandarin and Gibson. The cookies, which putting them into a container had been the first thing they had done, laid on the counter. Gibson quickly snatched them and hid them between Nova and his back.

"How long have you been here," Mandarin demanded, his pride in his abilities effectively chopped down several levels.

"Oh, long enough. Won't tell the Alchemist if you let me have some of those cookies."

Mandarin gave a strange smile. "Teaching us bribery is ill advised, Captain. Heh, I think I know from whom Antauri learned that streak of his from."

The Captain dropped down to one of his knees. His face softened. "Hey there, Nova."

She peeped over the others' shoulders.

He held out his hand but did not extend it very far. "It's alright. You . . . ah, don't rem. . . fine. I'll start from the beginning. My name's Clayton but my hero alias is Captain Shuggazoom, protector of the grand city of Shuggazoom." He struck a pose even while kneeling. "Your brothers have taken up the habit of calling me just 'Captain.'" He motioned again for her to come forward. She stalled but the others eventually nudged her forward. "I have a birthday present for you. Sorry it's late. A big revamp was happening in the lower sectors of my corporation."

"Birthday?"

"Yeah, the day you were born is called your birthday. It's custom to give the new addition to the family presents on that day and each year afterwards on the same day." He looked over to the boys. "I assume that was what the cookies were for and not just some last minute 'do it because the Alchemist will never know.'"

Nova glances behind at them. When she realized the Captain had stopped rummaging in his bag she spun but as she turned to him her vision was obscured by soft blue. She stepped back and examined the thing, taking hold of it. It was so soft. "What it?"

"It's a plush rabbit."

"What a plush rabbit?" She squeezed it, smiling at its softness.

He paused a moment. "It _is_ a toy. You . . . hold it and sleep with it." He rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't know exactly what to give you. And you probably won't be using it for long but ah, you guys seem to grow up so quickly out of the toddler stage. I-"

"I like it," she buried her face into the blue fuzz. Her bubblegum eyes turned up to him. "He he, I like you."

He smiled and straightened. "Now, where's Antauri?"

"He is likely asleep somewhere."

"But I checked out the unrestricted rooms already while everyone was cleaning up. I'm getting worried. He could have gotten into somewhere he's not supposed to be."

Mandarin walked up to him, turning up his face and caught the Captain's full attention. "You should have realized by now how good he is at not being found when he does not want to be found."

A frown twitched at the corners of his mouth. He was going to have to talk to the Alchemist about Mandarin's condescending tones.


	6. Bedtime Routines

CH 6 - Bedtime Routines

"Antauri!" Gibson called into one of the storage rooms one last time. No response came. He quickly dashed back to the others who had already gone ahead.

This was taking forever. Nova had already fallen asleep in the Captain's arms.

"That's it," Mandarin stopped in mid-step. He let Gibson catch up. "When did Antauri run off?"

Gibson tested his words, picking them carefully to avoid Mandarin even thinking something was off. (He would be in big trouble if he found out he messed with the systems.) "We were in the main computer room. Everyone was feeling tired after playing around after dinner and Antauri and Nova had fallen asleep on the couch. I had started a book on Shuggazoom's weather patterns when Nova yawned and broke off my concentration. She was still asleep but Antauri was not there anymore."

"Are you sure?"

Gibson's brows knotted. "Yes," the word slid out cautiously.

Mandarin's poise broke as he sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping forwards. A hand came up to rub his forehead. He needed to replenish his cells from earlier soon. Antauri had better not got into trouble. "He is normally by the old oak but it is too late for that to be sensible. Let's go over this again. I am not wandering everywhere tonight."

* * *

"Son of-," Mandarin cut the harsh whisper short. He glanced down through another book case between an upper shelf and the top of a line of old books to where the Captain was lifting up a heavy lid to a large storage basket. Nova, with her rabbit, was clinging to his chest while asleep as the Captain used both hands to brace up the lid. Mandarin's gaze quickly returned to the bit of metal that draped down over the top of another neighboring book case, this one quite taller than most in the room. A soft growl escaped him. When the Captain left them for the night he was in so much trouble. He sighed inwardly and gathered himself. "Oh, Captain." He closed his eyes, listening eagerly as the lid flomped down and a pair of boots clomped over to his position. From his position in the book shelves, when he opened his eyes he came face to face with the man. He looked up towards the top of the next unit, making sure the Captain's attention followed.

"Finally!" The loud exclamation caused Gibson to dash over.

"What!" Gibson watched as the Captain slid the ladder attached to the other unit over to the end and quickly clambered until his upper body was leaning over the top.

"I sure hope human kids aren't this troublesome," he whispered as he watched the gentle rise and fall of the black monkey's chest, his form curled into itself and loosely encircled by opened books. He didn't stir despite the Captain's watching; he was lost to the world. The Captain looked over the circle of books. A finger gingerly flipped the cover of one of the smaller volumes over to avoid making too much noise, noticing by touch the worn texture of the book. The Captain didn't know the work. "Alright," he turned his attention back to the sleeping monkey, "bed time for everyone now." He slipped his hands under his limp form and lifted him to his chest, settling him next to Nova.

"That's it?" Mandarin shot out angrily. His tone low but sharp.

"That's it. For now." He chuckled weakly. "I think we're all too tired to care right now."

Mandarin swallowed his refutation. The Captain motioned for the others who were not asleep to follow him to the door.

* * *

He gently laid the squirming monkey into the open pod. The youngest had woken up when he had lowered Antauri into his pod first. Her eyes squeezed shut, a strange gurgle coming from her. He desperately hoped she wouldn't start crying like a human baby did. On instinct he held up his hands defensively as she flopped over to her front. Her eyes wide opened she scanned the room. _Crap, she's awake_. Horrible thoughts entered the Captain's already tasked mind.

"Go to bed, little sister," Mandarin called out suddenly, catching both the Captain and Gibson's attentions. They thought Mandarin had fallen asleep as soon as he had entered his pod the way he had flopped into it and just settled in the position he had fallen into.

"What happen?"

"It's bed time," the Captain repositioned her rabbit against her chest. She eagerly flipped and wrapped her arms around its softness but her wide stare continue to bore into the Captain from between the rabbit's floppy ears. He noticed her eyes darting around her environment as he closed the lid. "Bed time for everyone," he nearly sung.

Nova flung open the pod as soon as the Captain had turned his back. "Captain!"

"Yes, Nova," he slowly turned back to her.

"Can I have some water?"

"Don't start that tonight!" Gibson called out. He quickly buried his head into the cushion lining of his pod.

"Sure, kid."

"She does this every night," Gibson mumbled through the lining. "She is not going to let you leave. You might as well get a blanket and sleep in the chair instead of going back and forth."

"But there weird noises in vents!"

Gibson lifted his head. "I know! There are always weird noises. They are from the machinery in the different parts of the lab! Father already explained-"

"Wake up Antauri. His stories are nice."

"You want a bedtime story?" The Captain leaned over her pod to support his body. (He didn't need to have kids now, the thought slipped over his mind.)

"They keep dark at bay. That what Antauri says."

"And yes they do." He lugged her up again. He walked over to the large chair nearby, stepping over misplaced toys, and slumped down. "The rest of you settled down." He sighed, repositioning himself on the seat. He flinched as Nova crawled under his neck. "Nova," he protested.

"But Father lets me," she looked up at him confused.

"Fine, fine." He let his head flop over the back of the seat. "Now. A story."

"Antauri was telling me about a little girl tricking a demon beast to save life of stranger. Do you know it?"

The Captain's head immediately flopped back over to a beaming face. _What?_


	7. The Crawling Night

He felt himself drift. He was no longer dreaming but he knew he wasn't going to wake up. Lucid dreaming, the phase came to him. That was what Father had used to describe the sensation he had once come to him and asked about. Father said eventually he would be able to control it if he practiced acknowledging he did it when it happened. He had looked up the definition of it afterwards anyways and, personally, he didn't think it fit. He had little control of this even though he tried.

He peeped open his eyes and could see small, blurred lights dancing in his vision somewhere beyond his position. He opened his eyes fully and a rush of dark greens filled his senses. He scanned the area. He was encircled by broad tree trunks covered by thick moss that grew up and reached towards a starless blackness that almost burned to look at with gnarled, twisting limbs. No distinguishable light came from above or beyond the forms around him but the forms seemed to be swimming with a slow flaming green and blue fire superimposed over everything, running through them. The flames crawled up and down their forms, causing a slow shifting play of shadows and soft glows. Their movement was like a slow dance despite that no wind was present. Why was he here? He had been in the library. He looked down to where he was standing and found the green flames on the ground around his feet flaring where he stood. He stepped back, startled, but the flames continue to flare where he stepped and would quickly die down to a dim afterglow just as quickly as he stepped away again.

_Rustle_.

He swerved around to face the source of the noise fully, the heatless flames forgotten. Minutes seemed to pass but nothing moved but the slowly swirling trails of flames around him.

_Scraaaatchhhhhhhhhh_.

This time it was above him. He stumbled back, landing hard on his seat (but there never seem to be physical pain when this happened). A dark form clambered up the side of a tall tree. A large but slim form, a dog-like creature with an elongated neck. Its body was like a watery shadow running up the tree's trunk encased by a coat of blue flames that it wore like fur. It stopped on a high branch. As it shifting form settled he could see a green orb embedded in the middle of its form, the shadows and blue fire of its body securely wrapped around it.

He tried to inhale to calm himself but the air was too heavy. He knew that form. Why was it not sleeping in the old o-?

A set of blue embers darted to him. Stunned, frozen in place, he let himself stare into the smoldering coals. They narrowed sharply and he felt himself fall through the ground.

* * *

His eyes flew open. Carefully, he released the breath he had been holding. He laid there, fully awake now but not moving as he urged himself to understand what was happening around him.

This had to stop. These wanderings were getting scarier. Before they were fun to explore but now . . . and the . . . dog thing.

Senses alert, Antauri investigated his environment. Soft, unfocused white blurred his vision. His pod? He searched his memories for where he was, what was happening. Last he knew he was in the library after-

_Scuttles. Bonsh._

What? His heart jumped into his throat. Another swell of adrenaline pumped hard through his body.

He shifted and pushed himself up from his position on his back. Quietly as possible, he scooted up to the end of the pod, looking just over the edge through the transparent lid down to what he could see of the floor.

_Shuffle. Shuffle_.

He flinched in fear but stopped himself and forced himself to listen. It was a strange shuffling. It was not like the familiar sound of Father's padded feet softly shuffling across the floor, making his last round before he himself finally went to bed. It wasn't the Captain's bulky boots or bare feet. It was not like feet - like many, small feet. His breath caught in his throat. Something was wrong.

He flung open the lid to his pod and scanned the room again, his range improved but found he still could not see a good portion of the room as the pillar the pods encircled was situated in the middle of the room. The memory of earlier in the evening when Mandarin's receiver had blinked suddenly surfaced. Usually it was Father calling him (then he would disappear for a while.) Antauri wasn't a newborn anymore. He knew occasionally dangerous creatures managed to enter the Haven. Father usually took care of any intruders. (He shivered slightly at the memory when he had been too curious and had sneaked in a peek). Mandarin, as of recently, had been directly helping Father protect the Haven. Antauri knew - suspected, he corrected himself, that Mandarin was helping Father with other errands as well. What kind of errand, he didn't know.

_Shuffle_.

It was getting louder. If there had been an intruder the alarms system would have gone off and alerted Mandarin and the Captain. Mandarin would not be sleeping. He glanced over at Mandarin's pod. An outline of his older brother's form was clearly sleeping within though most of the details were blurred and colors dulled by the dark and tainted the same color as the pod's lid. Antauri gripped the edge of the pod and leaned over trying to get a better look at his surroundings. He focused on his hearing, even pausing in his own breath, trying to find where it was coming from but he could not seem to tell, just that it was somewhere below him in the nesting shadows.

"Everyone!" He knocked his metal fist against Gibson's pod. "Wake up!"

The shuffling stopped.

"What!" Mandarin yelled but he just managed to subdue it enough to keep it from waking everyone in the Haven up.

"Tell Nova to go to sleep," Gibson meekly cried from within his pod. He didn't stir again.

Antauri slid open Gibson's pod and shook him. "We should go bunk with the Captain."

"What? Why?" Gibson complained.

Antauri shot Mandarin a look.

Mandarin sighed. "Fine."

Gibson's head shot up. "What?"

"Now." Mandarin did a look-over of the room. He continued to ignore Gibson's confused look.

Getting nowhere with Mandarin, Gibson lugged himself over the edge of his pod and banged on Nova's pod. She didn't stir. "Fine! Don't make it easy." Tired fingers fiddled with the hatch but managed to release the lid. "Come on." He climbed over the gap between their pods and took a seat on the edge of hers. He braced a foot against the opposite edge and pulled her weight into a seated position. Her eyes opened slightly in response but she didn't fully wake up. Mandarin and Antauri jumped down and helped Gibson ease her to the floor. She managed to stand erect but she teetered and clearly was not fully there. Gibson quickly climbed up and snatched her rabbit that had been left in the pod.

"Come on," Antauri took a couple steps to the door, waiting for the others to start following. Gibson took Nova's hand and led the teetering monkey forward.

In the hall, Mandarin took point. Gibson was between him and Antauri with Antauri lagging behind. Gibson was fully awake by now but he was conscious of the heavy weight of his tired body. He looked up at Mandarin who was unnecessarily close to them, always just within arm's length. He squeezed Nova's hand tighter. Maybe something _was_ happening. He tilted his head behind him just enough to see Antauri. He, himself, was looking behind them, his eyes glowing a strange, deeper green in the dim light.

Mandarin opened the door to the guest room wide open, the resultant shaft of thin light falling on the limp form of the Captain sprawled out on a bed. He laid on his stomach sideways in the bed, the covers in place, snoring into a thin, summer comforter. Mandarin quickly walked up to the man and flicked his forehead. His snoring abruptly stopped.

The mess of normally kempt hair shifted and the Captain awoke to the eldest child's frown. A confused look plastered itself on his face. His eyes fell on the others. "Fine," and with that, buried his head into the comforter again.

Gibson quickly scaled the side of the bed, gripping onto the comforter and pulling himself up. He twisted back around and pulled Nova up. She settled against the Captain's side, pulling her rabbit between them and effectively squashed its features into disproportionate shapes. Almost immediately she was asleep, completely not bothered by the Captain's newest fit of snoring. (If she was ever awake at all.)

Gibson curled up around her. He was soon drifting off . . . but then he noticed something.

He craned his neck to look at the door over the gentle rise and fall of the Captain's back to find Mandarin and Antauri slipping out. They froze when they noticed him.

"We are going to check on something," Mandarin whispered.

"Can I help?"

"Stay here. We are just checking that the security is functioning properly."

"Aw, but-"

Mandarin swallowed a sigh and sharply turned to Gibson. "You will stay here and be here when we get back or I'll tape you to the ceiling where no one can find you and leave you there for a whole day. _Without_ anything between you and the. Very. Sticky. Tape."

Gibson shot him a glare but reluctantly dipped his head back down. He was too old for Mandarin to treat him this way!

* * *

Outside the hall, Mandarin scanned the area as Antauri closed the door as quietly as possible.

"Did you miss one or something?"

Mandarin hide his expression from Antauri. Instead he checked the hall for movement, facing away from him. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I heard shuffling. As if many, small feet were scuttling across the floor and it was _not _one of the cleaner bots." He gathered himself again. "Ever met something like that before in the swamps?"

Mandarin glanced at him, narrowing his eyes. There were creatures outside the Haven, he secretly admitted, giant bugs were included but they were not smart enough to get pass the surveillance and Father's security measures. He paused, thinking. "It could be dangerous for you without your weapons activated yet."

"So there is an issue."

What Antauri had described sounded like a bug. A rare smile spread across his face. "Hopefully nothing a giant boot would not fix."


End file.
